One Last Shot

It turns out there's quite a bit of history, strategy, and lore in the sport of miniature golf (including the fact that it came into existence partly because ladies weren't allowed to play "real" golf). Each chapter (centered on a particular hole in the course) passes on quite a bit of it as Malcolm plays in a tournament. References to books from Squirrel Girl to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Malcolm is also a smart kid whose brain never stops, taking him (and the reader) to some interesting places along the way, as here, when a teacher asks him what he's thinking about, which turns out to be vampires: "She kept looking at me, so I went on to explain that vitamin D is produced naturally by the human body in response to exposure to sunlight, but that's a problem for vampires, for obvious reasons. So where do they get their vitamin D? Do they just have brittle bones from a vitamin deficiency? Or does it even matter because they're immortal? Or maybe their digestive system is capable of extracting the necessary vitamins and nutrients from the blood of their victims, which would make sense, but what if their victims were indoorsy types and had a deficiency as well?"

Malcolm's parents -- especially his father, who seems to have never gotten over his college-athlete glory days -- spent a whole lot of the story sniping and tearing each other down, catching him in the middle. But sometimes, just when he's sure they'll react badly, they surprise him with kindness and support, and gradually reveal past tragedy behind the conflict. His new friend Lex turns out not just to know a lot about tap dancing, she's very good at it -- and good at being there for him. His golf coach (an old buddy of his dad's) is an overweight slob who seems to eat nothing but greasy junk food and predictably lands in the hospital -- but also teaches Malcolm valuable lessons about golf and life. Malcolm tries to take it all in, do his best, and stay out of trouble.

There aren't any lovey-dovey couples in this story. Aside from Malcolm's quarrelsome parents, there's his coach, who's still bumming about his divorce and his ex-wife, who once destroyed his most precious Transformer. The parents of Malcolm's new friend Lex (Alexis) are divorced, but amicably.

Many brand names mentioned as part of scene-setting (like the "Coke" machine at the mini-golf course that actually sells Pepsi) or character definition (as when Malcolm makes a series of unsuccessful attempts to put Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, and other sugary cereals in his mom's shopping cart. Malcolm and his new friend Lex bond over a discussion about how brand names like Kleenex and Band-Aid come to describe a whole generic category of products.